No. 2 Cal State Fullerton defeated UC Davis 5-1 behind the dominant pitching
performance of junior lefthander Ricky Romero who struck out 12 en route
to his eighth victory Friday night at Raley Field in Sacramento.
The Titans were victorious in the two team’s first-ever meeting
with each other and improved their overall season record to 28-11. The
Aggies fell to 21-15 with the loss.
Romero, just two strikeouts shy of his career-best, allowed just three
hits thought the first eight innings and faced just two batters over the
minimum through five. Davis got its lone run in the bottom of the sixth
inning on an RBI triple that sent centerfielder Bobby Andrews crashing
into the wall in center field. Davis’ Brandon Oliver raced around
the bases, all the way from first to score the Aggies’ sole run.
Fullerton scored multiple times in both the second and fourth innings
off two UC Davis arms. Trevor Mortensen, Blake Davis and Bobby Andrews
all recorded RBIs in the top of the fourth, literally knocking out Davis
starter Dave McKae (6-3) who picked up the loss. McKay, served up and
offering to Bobby Andrews who promptly hit a solid chopper back through
the box, striking McKae in the face. McKae lay motionless for a few minutes
before walking off the field without help. He did get transported to the
hospital for precautionary x-rays, and treatment with tests came back
negative.
In the fourth, Blake Davis led off the inning by getting plunked by an
off-speed pitch of McKae’s replacement Peter Soskin. Soskin then
walked John Curtis setting the table for the Titan third baseman Ronnie
Prettyman. Prettyman lined a double to centerfield picking up two Titans
with one swing of the bat. Both Davis and Curtis came around to score,
giving the Titans their fourth and fifth runs of the game.
Soskin went the final 7.1 innings in relief of McKae striking out eight
hitters while walking only one.
Vinnie Pestano came on in relief of Romero to get one batter, saving Romero’s
masterful performance while picking up his seventh save along the way.
Brett Pill finished with three hits to lead all players while Justin Turner
added two as the only other Titan posting multiple hits. Prettyman led
all players with 2 RBI.
The two teams will meet again tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. at Dobbins Stadium
on the campus of UC Davis.
